Culinary Arts Schools

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A Culinary Institute or Culinary Arts School are strictly cooking schools. All subjects revolve around cooking, culinary subjects, and the food service and hospitality industries.

Some culinary institutes are only a few months long while others (such as the Culinary Institute of America) offer full 4-year degree programs that go into more depth in the food services industry.

Many culinary arts schools have specialization programs such a becoming a pastry chef and becoming a baker.

Through extensive hands on experience most culinary arts schools will teach some form of the following:
  • Proper restaurant hygiene
  • Basic and advanced knife skills
  • Making stocks, remouillages, demi glace, and consommés
  • Making mother sauces and derivative sauces
  • Classic French techniques
  • What difference stations in a restaurant do
  • Proper preparation of vegetables, meats, and fish
  • Food safety
  • Creating savory doughs and batters
  • The stations of Garde Manger, Poissonnier, Saucier, and Pâtissier
Most culinary arts schools will supplement this basic material with their own spins, such as Italian Cooking, World Cuisine, Restaurant and Hospital Management and many others.

Many culinary arts institutes also offer paid externships in the food services industry where you will go and do work at respected restaurants and other companies, gaining valuable work experience you can use to find a full time job after you graduate. Many also offer restaurants on campus that culinary students work.

Some highly respected culinary arts programs are the Classic Culinary Arts program at the French Culinary Institute and the various culinary arts programs at the Culinary Institute of America.